Harappan cotton
Topic: Harappan (Sindhu-Sarasvati) Civilisation · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 6 "The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation"
Meaning
The Harappans were the first people in Eurasia to grow cotton. This was during the Harappan period (c. 3500–1300 BCE). Cloth rarely survives, so the evidence comes from traces of cotton and from sculptures that show clothing. It makes the Harappans pioneers of one of India's most famous crops.
Example
Archaeologists found traces of cotton at Harappan sites. They also studied sculptures of people wearing clothes. Putting the two together, they concluded that Harappans wore clothes made of cotton. This is an example of "indirect evidence", where the conclusion comes from linking clues rather than finding the cloth itself.
Don't confuse with
- Harappan cereals: Wheat and barley were the main food grains. Cotton was a fibre crop, grown to make cloth, not to eat.
Related concepts
- Harappan subsistence
- Harappan agriculture
- Rangpur
- Terracotta plough
- Cholistan
- Ploughed field at Kalibangan
- Harappan irrigation